ABSTRACT
Throughout the course of history, some variation appears to have existed in the manner in which gifted students may have gone about entering the careers in which they eventually spent a major portion of their lives. The Industrial Revolution appears to represent a pivotal point of time in history whereby substantial changes were seen in the career decisions of people, including those who were gifted. Multiple scholars have noted that large numbers of people in predominantly agricultural societies simply followed the careers of their parents. In Ancient Greek society, particularly the city state of Athens, people appear to have been given substantial personal freedom to make a career choice that reflected their individual capabilities and interests. Some parallels to Ancient Greece, the Treatises of the Brothers of Purity indicated that the career decisions of individuals, including gifted individuals, in traditional Islamic societies should reflect the best possible match between the characteristics of the individuals and the characteristics of the careers.
